


Repair Work

by VeryBoredAnon



Category: SK8 the Infinity (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, Post Ep.7
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-13 12:54:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29651631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VeryBoredAnon/pseuds/VeryBoredAnon
Summary: When Reki and Langa are both in despair, it's up to the other skateboarders to help them out of it.
Relationships: Chinen Miya & Higa Hiromi | Shadow & Kyan Reki, Hasegawa Langa/Kyan Reki, Nanjo Kojiro | Joe & Sakurayashiki Kaoru | Cherry Blossom
Comments: 2
Kudos: 200





	1. Langa

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought out this whole fic the night after episode 7 aired. None of my predictions ever come true but I loved what I thought up so I wrote it, and I wrote as fast as I could because when episode 8 rolls around, I'll get debunked to hell and I'll lose all motivation to write.

Half an hour after the sun had completely set, when stars were starting to twinkle in Okinawa's blackened sky, Kojiro was ready to close his restaurant and head to S. He has been ready since half an hour ago, until Kaoru barged inside with Carla at 25% battery. Thus, Kojiro had to serve Kaoru some coffee while Carla charged at the nearest socket (she was at 80% now).

"I've been thinking this for a long time," said Kojiro as he refilled Kaoru's cup. "Do you charge your board here to cut back on electricity bills?"

Kaoru took a long sip before replying, "Yes."

"I knew it! You _cheapskate!_ Don't you own a whole freaking company?!"

"Don't ask if you already know! And with these _exorbitant_ prices on your menu, you should be able to settle the costs easily!"

_Ding-a-ling!_

Both men looked at the door, their brows furrowed because who would enter a restaurant with the **CLOSE** sign on display?

The answer was Langa, apparently, and only Langa. He carried his skateboard at his side. His shoulders were undulating in tandem with his heavy breathing. His head was slightly bowed, so he was not looking at Kojiro or Kaoru, but the men saw him. They could see Langa's usual vacant expression had been replaced by something more dejected.

"What's up, Langa?" Kojiro said when Langa neither spoke nor moved from the entrance.

Langa stiffened. A few seconds of silence later, he finally responded very hesitantly, "I wanted to go to S, but...I couldn't. I skated around for a while to find somewhere to be...and I ended up here."

"So you were looking for a place to loiter?" Kaoru summarized. "I'm surprised you didn't go to Reki."

Langa faced the men, and 'something more dejected' became something more _tearful_. The sight made Kaoru and Kojiro's eyes bug out, and what Langa proceeded to say made their jaws drop.

"Reki _dumped_ me."

_" **WHAT?!** "_

Langa was trembling. "He said... Reki said..." As he stammered, he was bringing his skateboard closer to his chest until he was hugging it. "He said we weren't a good match anymore!"

" _Oof_ , those are definitely breakup words," said Kojiro, on his way to Langa. Once he was beside him, Kojiro ushered Langa to the restaurant's counter. "Come on, take a seat first. We'll listen to you."

Normally, Kaoru would get mad when Kojiro spoke for him, but at the moment, he was busy reaching over the counter for a clean cup to fill with coffee. He placed the cup in front of Langa once the latter was seated next to him.

"What happened?" Kaoru gently inquired. "You two were so close."

"I don't really know..." Langa spoke quietly towards his cup of coffee. "But I think I _hurt_ him..."

"With your words?" asked Kojiro, back behind the counter. He leaned closer to the conversation. "Or actions?"

"Both...?" Langa answered with a shaky shrug. "I told Reki I wanted to join the tournament...because I wanted to skate with ADAM again...because I had fun the last time... Reki always said skating is supposed to be fun, so I thought he'd understand but..." Suddenly, Langa's reflection in the coffee morphed into Reki in the rain last night, and all the anguish from then surged within Langa and out as a fresh batch of tears.

"He didn't agree, did he?" said Kojiro softly, sympathetically.

Langa drew a sharp intake of breath, eyes on his skateboard now, and hands framing the cartoon yeti Reki painted on its underside. He spoke, much louder and faster than before, "He said he felt _scared!_ He said he didn't get how I could find it fun!" His nails scraped across the scratches on the board. "He was so _angry_...and I guess I expected that—I mean, I broke our promise, but I thought he'd forgive me if I mentioned it was fun..."

"Do you still want him to forgive you?" asked Kaoru.

Langa immediately faced him. " _Yes!_ But when I tried to say sorry, he wouldn't let me! Because it meant I really was going to break our promise!"

"Then, maybe that's not what you should be apologizing for."

"Wha...? What else should I apologize to Reki for?"

Kaoru could not phrase himself more delicately. "Saying you enjoyed being with the monster who traumatized him, perhaps?"

Langa's eyes widened. "I never said that."

"But that might have been the message Reki got from you." Kaoru unfurled his fan, hiding the bottom half of his face behind it. "This will sound harsh and untrue, but the way I hear your words, it seems as if you told Reki the pain and fear ADAM inflicted upon him meant nothing to you."

"No!" Langa cried, standing up so fast his stool toppled. "That wasn't what I meant!"

"Of course, it wasn't," said Kojiro, placing his hand on Langa's shoulder reassuringly. "You just wanted to say it was fun to skate with ADAM, right?"

Langa nodded. "Mmh," he said with a sniffle. His head stayed bowed as he rubbed his eyes on his sleeve.

"Sometimes," Kojiro began in a gentle tone, "our words can take on a meaning we didn't expect, because the listener is a different person, with different experiences and ideas. When that happens, and the listener gets upset, like Reki, what you have to do is assure them that wasn't what you meant and...clarify."

Langa raised his head a little, to show Kojiro one quizzical eye. "Clarify?"

"Right now, Reki probably thinks ADAM is more important to you than him and that's why you broke your promise."

Langa glared at Kojiro. "That's not true!"

"Exactly, it's _not_." Kojiro bent down to Langa's eye level. "Denying is the first step. Next, you must _explain_ how it's untrue."

Langa lowered his gaze to his board again. "I _do_ like skating with ADAM, and the exhilaration I felt when I raced against him; I don't think I'll ever experience it with anyone else." His grip on the board's edges tightened. "But Reki is like that too. The things we do every day—skating around the city, looking for a opportunity to do a trick; talking while skating, _about_ skating; using our boards to pass food to each other..." His voice grew hoarser as he thought of everything he loved doing with Reki, and his tears resurfaced. "Until yesterday, Reki and I always did those things together, and today, we did _none_ of them!" He clutched his chest. "The idea of missing an opportunity to skate with ADAM doesn't hurt one bit, but _losing my routine with Reki...!"_

A loud _crack!_ resounded inside the restaurant, stunning Langa silent. The noise was caused by Kaoru closing his fan sharply.

" **Stop** ," Kaoru ordered.

Langa and Kojiro looked at him strangely. Langa looked strange because he was literally two seconds from bawling and Kaoru would not let him. Kojiro looked strange because he was thinking, _'What the hell did you just say, Kaoru?!'_

"That's enough," Kaoru continued. "You've repented enough, Langa." He stood up. "Now, you must make an effort to fix your mistake." He walked to the wall Carla was charging from and unplugged her. "Come on, Langa. My bike is outside."

"Huh?" said Langa, still standing by the counter.

"I will take you to Reki," Kaoru stated resolutely. "Everything you said just now, you must tell Reki. He's the one who needs to hear it the most."

Langa gawked at Kaoru, and then Kojiro, who simply smiled and gently pushed Langa away from the counter.

"Go work things out with Reki," said Kojiro. "I'll come as soon as I'm done locking up."

Langa faced forward, swallowed nervously, and finally followed Kaoru out of the restaurant. A sleek black motorcycle with purple accents awaited them on the sidewalk. Kaoru fitted his skateboard into a shallow compartment at the side of his bike before opening up another for Langa’s board.

"And one more thing, Langa," said Kaoru, once they were both seated on the bike, "you didn’t hurt Reki."

Langa flinched, squeezing Kaoru a little tighter. "What do you mean?"

"All you had done was unintentionally brush the psychological wound _ADAM_ left on Reki," Kaoru explained. "If he had never raced against ADAM, Reki probably wouldn't have objected to you joining the tournament. _Much_ ," he hastily added because he knew he could not truly speak for Reki. "So don't be too hard on yourself, alright?"

Langa rested his head on Kaoru's back, rubbing his forehead on him when he nodded. As he held back tears, he could only say, "Mm."

Kaoru revved engine. "Now, where do you think Reki is at this time, Langa?"

Langa mumbled Reki's home address, and they were off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something I wanted to add in the story (but couldn't find the opportunity to) was that Langa actually crashed outside the restaurant, accidentally, and entered on a whim.


	2. Reki

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kind of want Miya and Shadow to apologize to Reki for making fun of him, but even I couldn't think of it happening realistically.

While the sun was in the middle of setting, bathing Okinawa in an orange glow, Miya skated halfway through S. At this time, usually, there would only be about as many skaters as one had fingers and toes, because it was early. However, with ADAM's tournament coming up, there was actually a crowd at the gates, waiting for S to open. Miya was among that crowd.

 _'But Reki and Langa weren't,'_ Miya thought as he began an uphill return journey to the top. He remembered the previous night. _'First, Reki, and now Langa, too?'_

"Hey, Miya!"

Miya looked to his side, finding a random skateboarder also walking uphill. "Yeah?"

"You hang around a lot with SNOW, right? You know if he's coming today?"

Miya faced the road ahead. "I'm not that close to him, so I don't know."

"Aww," said the stranger, slowing his pace. "You were my only choice."

"Only?" Miya turned around. "You never considered Reki?"

The stranger quirked his brow. "Who?"

"The redhead who's always with Langa," answered Miya. At the same time, he thought, _'Except for yesterday.'_

"Oh, that loser?" said the stranger, in a matter-of-fact tone.

Miya's eyes widened. "Loser?"

"Well, he challenged ADAM and lost, didn't he? So, he's a loser."

"Yeah, I guess," Miya reluctantly agreed.

The stranger laughed. "Honestly, though, what is that loser doing with someone amazing like SNOW? He's probably leeching off his fame, amirite?"

"What do you know?" Miya questioned, louder than he intended.

Everyone in vicinity directed their attention to him. Miya did not like it, or that stranger. He turned around again and continued his way up, at a faster pace now. Once he was far enough, Miya stopped walking. He sighed lengthily, thinking, _'God, it's weird to trash-talk Reki with someone other than Shadow.'_

"Oh my gosh, you got a pic of SNOW?!"

Miya flinched, not realizing how near he was to a pair of fangirls until they squealed. He quickly moved away.

"I got it yesterday," said one fangirl. "He came without that other guy! It was the _perfect_ photo-op!"

Miya froze.

"I mean," that fangirl went on, "SNOW looks so cool and ethereal on his own. That other dude's, what? Anime hair?" She and her friend snickered. "It's _awful_ , isn't it? Ruins the photo."

"SNOW should hang out more with Cherry and Joe," said another fangirl. " _That_ would be the perfect photo-op!"

Beyond the fangirls' view, Miya was glaring at them. In his mind, he skated towards the fangirls and turned his board at the last moment, spraying dirt, gravel, and rocks at them. A loud noise sounded behind Miya, dragging him out of his contemplations. A skater had fallen hard in the middle of the track.

"What the heck you trying to do, man?!" said a different skater, hurrying to the fallen skater.

"I thought," said the fallen skater as he propped himself on his elbows, "I could pull off that trick SNOW did during his race with ADAM— _ow!"_

The other skater draped the fallen one's arm over her shoulders and gently hoisted him to his feet. "You looked more like the guy who raced ADAM before SNOW."

"I look _better_ than him," whined the fallen skater. "You didn't see me fall screaming, did you?"

"Yeah, yeah. Um, excuse me?" the helpful skater said irritably, because Miya was standing in the middle of the track too, wide-eyed and shaking.

When that skater spoke to Miya, the latter turned and ran. It was a bad idea (he was going uphill) but Miya wanted to get away. The faster he ran, the harder it would be for him to hear random skaters ridicule Reki, so he ran. Miya ran and ran until he was back atop S, and even then, he kept running, until he slammed into someone.

"Hey, what the hell, Miya?!" yelled Shadow, the best someone to run into.

"Gimme your fireworks," Miya whispered into Shadow's cape.

"Huh?"

Miya looked up, glowering at Shadow. "I said _give me your fireworks,"_ he growled.

Shadow furrowed his brow. "What for?"

"There's some people I wanna set on fire."

"During a beef?"

" _Now_." Miya jostled the cape. "Do you keep them here?"

"Hey, quit that!" Shadow yanked his cape out of Miya's grip. "This isn't like you! What's wrong?"

Miya bowed his head. "...Reki."

Shadow raised one eyebrow. "Reki?"

"I wanna see Reki now. Take me to him."

"What? Why?"

Miya raised his head and shouted, _"Take me to Reki, Hiromi!"_

 _"Don't call me that here!"_ Shadow shouted back.

Ten minutes later, Shadow and Miya were out of S, in the former's little pink car, on their way to Reki's house. Shadow glared at the road while Miya gazed out the window at the little bit of sun left above the horizon.

"So, you gonna tell me what's wrong or what?" said Shadow, finally breaking the silence.

"...I think I know why Reki hasn't been coming to S."

"What's the reason?"

"The gossip."

Shadow snorted. "Really? The _gossip?_ I doubt that idiot's _that_ sensitive."

"Not everyone is like you, Shadow," said Miya, raising and harshening his voice. "We don't all get invigorated when people disparage us."

Shadow squinted at Miya for a moment, and then went back to watching the road. "Well, neither do I," he mumbled.

They arrived at Reki's house at the same time the sun completely set. Miya got out first ("I can't make a home visit looking like this," Shadow said as he wetted a cotton pad with makeup remover) and rang the doorbell. Mrs. Kyan came to greet him.

"Good evening, Auntie," Miya greeted politely. "I'm Reki's friend, Miya."

"Ah, you went to the hot springs with Reki, didn't you? Good evening to you too. Are you here to see Reki?"

"Yes. Is he home?"

"He is," said Mrs. Kyan, sounding slightly unhappy. "Would you like to come in?"

Miya nodded. "Yes, please!"

As she guided Miya through the house, Mrs. Kyan told him, "He's been lazing about the house all day. I know it's Saturday, but still..." She stopped in front of a door. "Here's his room. I'll bring some cake and tea later, okay?"

Miya smiled sweetly. "That'd be great. Thanks!" After Mrs. Kyan left, he opened the sliding door.

The lights were off and the curtains were drawn. On the bed laid Reki, with an arm over his eyes. His skateboard was abandoned to the other side of the room, amongst chipped, wheel-less skateboards. Upon sighting all that, Miya's smile sloughed off his face.

"Reki," he said softly.

Reki flinched. His arm shifted, uncovering his eyes. "Miya?" he said, sitting up.

Miya stepped inside. He slid the door almost shut, allowing some light. "Will you," he asked hesitantly, "go to S tonight?"

Reki looked away. "Maybe not this night."

"Because of what they're saying about you?"

Reki looked at Miya again, with one eyebrow raised. "Huh?"

Miya sat on the edge of the bed at Reki's feet, resting his board on his lap. "Just now, I was at S. I found so many people who didn't like you, because you weren't Langa, and because you hung around him. They only said the _worst_ things about you. I wanted to blow them all up with Shadow's firecrackers."

"You're kidding," said Reki, moving closer to Miya.

Miya shook his head. "When my friends...stopped being my friends, they started complaining about me, saying how sick they were of me for being better than them. They'd say that all where I could hear, and I had to hear them _every day,_ in school and then skateboard practice. They were so jealous, sometimes they'd try to sabotage me. And my coaches _knew_ about this. Even though they supported me and valued me as a prodigy, they couldn't do anything to stop the bullying.

"And I thought, 'Whatever. It's fine. I'm better than all of them.' I believed I was strong enough to deal with it all on my own." At this point, Miya's voice was cracking. He sniffled before continuing, "And then you told me you'd never be like them. It made me realize I _never_ wanted to deal with all that alone...so I don't want to let _you_ deal with this alone."

"Miya..." Reki said, his voice cracking too. "I'm sorry..."

"Huh? Why're you apologizing?" Miya questioned incredulously. He looked at Reki, and found the latter weeping. "Reki?"

Reki was unable to face him. "I'm such a hypocrite, Miya... I...I did what your friends did... I ditched Langa once he got way better than me..."

Miya gawked at him. "You _what?"_

"He wanted to join the tournament and race ADAM... He said it was fun to skate with ADAM and—and I got so _pissed_." Reki rubbed his eyes but the tears kept coming. "Like it's _his_ fault _I_ can't keep up... Like it's Langa's fault he's a _genius_ who can go toe-to-toe with ADAM...while I'm—I'm just... _nothing_."

"That's not true!" said Miya, earnestly. "You're not nothing!"

Reki made a choked noise, like he was trying click his tongue and laugh mirthlessly simultaneously. "You don't believe that. You told me yourself, 'Those with no talent should stay out!'"

Miya flinched. "I was talking about my beef with Langa," he explained in a small, guilty voice, "not skating altogether..."

"It might as well be skating altogether." Reki curled up. "If I can't catch up, I'll be left behind...and I really _couldn't_ catch up to Langa, no matter how hard I tried..."

"Reki..." said Miya, and nothing more. He was at a loss of words.

Right out of the blue, light filled the room with a heart-stopping _crack!_ that made Reki and Miya bounce on the bed in fright. In the door to Reki's room stood makeup-less, combed-down Hiromi. He had one hand on the doorframe and the other holding a tray of tea and cake.

Reki, who had spent the better part of the day in darkness, had to look through split fingers. "Shadow...?"

"You're big idiot if you think getting on Langa's level was ever a possibility, Reki," said Hiromi.

"Shadow!" Miya hissed.

Hiromi side-eyed Miya. "It's true. You know why?" He pointed at Reki. "It's because of _this guy_."

Reki's eyes widened. _"Me?"_ he uttered lengthily at a high pitch while pointing at himself.

"You just _had_ to make Langa a crazy board that let's him skate like a skateboarder _and_ snowboarder," Hiromi continued in a deceitfully bitter tone, "and only _he_ can use it to boot! That move he did at the abandoned factory—crossing the gap in the railing—he could do it thanks to the skateboard _you_ made. You're responsible for making Langa into a legend, and I hope you're proud of that."

"You mean, Reki _should_ be proud," Miya corrected.

"And you said you can't catch up to Langa?" Hiromi went on. "You don't need to! As long as he has that board, you're _always_ with him."

Reki raised a hand in protest. "Okay, now that's just corny."

"Yeeeaah," Miya agreed. "And it implies Reki's beneath Langa most of the time."

"I am _trying_ to cheer you up!" Hiromi roared, causing Reki and Miya to laugh at him.

"I know," said Reki, relaxing. "I get it, and thanks, really. It's just..." He was still smiling, albeit a lot less than when he was laughing, and the happiness was fading drastically. "I really do wanna get better at skating. Everyone around me is so amazing." His frown returned. "I'm probably the worst skater in this room right now. No, _definitely_ the worst."

"Yeah, that's true," Hiromi stated bluntly, and Miya glared at him. "But if you can forget all that, you'll realize you're not _that_ bad, Reki."

Reki looked down. "You don't have to force yourself to sound nice, Shadow."

Hiromi got on one knee in front of the bed. "And _you_ shouldn't force yourself to not see your good sides. Seriously, you're skilled enough to easily incorporate skateboarding into your daily routine, pull off basic tricks and learn more complicated ones within days of hard work, like that rail-slide."

Reki's gaze avoided Hiromi. "Every skater can do all that and better than me..."

"Well, _I_ couldn't," Hiromi admitted, and earned back Reki's gaze. "When I was your age, I was about the same. I only knew the basics and the complicated stuff took me _weeks_ to master. It was frustrating as hell, but I didn't give up. Now, I'm twenty-four, and everything that was difficult when I was a teen is easy to me as an adult. It took me years to get to this level, and it was worth it, and it'll be worth it for you too, Reki, so _don't give up,_ because you _are_ a good skater."

Silence befell the room. For a moment, Hiromi wondered, _'Crap. Was that too corny?'_ Soon, he realized he was not corny this time, when tears oozed from Reki's eyes again.

"You really," said Reki, smiling through quivering lips, "you really think so, Shadow?"

Hiromi's turn to avoid eye contact had come. "Yeah. It's embarrassing, so don't make me repeat it."

Reki chuckled and wiped his eyes. At last, the tears stopped. He also stopped smiling. However, he was not frowning in sadness. On the contrary, he had a frown of determination.

"I gotta talk to Langa," he said. "I have to apologize to him."

"Mm, you should," said Hiromi while stuffing a rolled cake into his mouth.

"Take me to him, Shadow."

Hiromi groaned. "How many times do I have to tell you I'm not your taxi driver?" He downed a cup of tea before standing up. "Let's go."

Reki hopped out of bed. "We'll try his house first," he said as he exited the room after Hiromi.

Miya looked at the last two slices of Swiss rolls on the tray. He produced a handkerchief, placed the cakes on it, and bundled them up carefully. Finally, he left Reki's bedroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Miya being able to sympathize with Reki is something I really want to see happening in the anime.


	3. Renga

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tagged this as Reki/Langa even though it's really more Reki & Langa, but this is supposed to be self-indulgent, so...

Under the full moon of Okinawa's night sky that was packed with stars of various magnitudes, a straight road found itself occupied by only two vehicles. Those vehicles were Kaoru's motorbike and Hiromi's car. They were on opposite lanes and opposite ends of the road. At the speeds they were going, they passed each other in a flash. However, in that flash, Reki and Langa locked eyes from the backseats of their respective transports.

"Reki!" Langa cried, his grasp on Kaoru loosening.

"Langa!" Reki also cried, unbuckling his seatbelt.

Hiromi pulled the emergency brakes, causing Reki to slam hard into the back of Miya's seat. Meanwhile, Langa got a mild yet disorienting whiplash because he did not hold tight enough on to Kaoru when the latter sharply turned his bike to an abrupt halt. As soon as they stopped moving, Reki and Langa practically fell out and off their transports, respectively.

"Are you alright?" Kaoru asked Langa, who was currently lying beside his bike.

"What are you doing, you idiot?!" Hiromi yelled at Reki, who was on his hands and knees outside the car.

Reki and Langa did not answer. Instead, they unsteadily got to their feet, and staggered as fast as they could to each other. Once they were only a meter apart, the boys bowed deeply.

"I'm sorry, Reki!"

"I'm sorry, Langa!"

Reki and Langa raised their heads simultaneously. "Eh?" both of them said with wide eyes. "Why are you apologizing? I'm the one who was wrong!"

At that moment, Kojiro arrived on his normal-looking motorbike, slowing to a stop next to Hiromi's car, specifically Miya's side of it. Miya had rolled down the window to watch Reki and Langa. So did Hiromi at his side of the car.

"What did I miss?" Kojiro asked Miya.

"Reki and Langa apologized at the same time," answered Miya, "and I don't think either party expected that, so now they're at a loss for words."

"Oh, okay." Kojiro raised his voice. "It sounds you two need to have a nice long chat with each other, so let's do this off-road, shall we?"

Thus, Reki and Langa moved to the staircase beside the road, descending far enough to not be seen by ongoing traffic. Miya sat on the second topmost step while Kojiro squatted at the top beside Kaoru, the only one standing. Hiromi was still parking his car.

"Um," Langa spoke first, "do you want some?" He showed Reki the thermos Kojiro had given him before leaving to repark his bike. "It's coffee."

"Ye-Yeah," Reki stuttered and nodded. "We can have it with these." He untied the bundle Miya had pushed into his arms prior to the chat. "It's some chocolate cake Mom bought."

Langa removed the two cups covering the top of the thermos. He poured coffee into one of them and passed it to Reki. When Reki accepted the cup, his fingers brushed against Langa, making both of them flinch. They looked away bashfully, and tried not to make eye contact as Langa reached over Reki's lap for a cake.

"How's it going?" Hiromi whispered, joining the group at last.

"Awkwardly," replied Kaoru, in a hushed tone.

"Well, they did literally break up yesterday," Kojiro mumbled.

Miya shushed the adults, even though the conversation at the lower steps had died out. One should not talk while their mouth was full, after all.

"Hey, Langa?" Reki finally spoke once he had drained half his cup.

"Mm?" Langa hummed in acknowledgement because he was still chewing.

Reki faced Langa properly, seriously. "Do you still want to join ADAM's tournament?"

Langa swallowed nervously. "I _do_ wanna skate with ADAM, and you said I can skate with him as much as I want."

Hearing that, Reki glanced aside and frowned sheepishly. What Langa said next, however, got all of Reki's attention.

"But the one I want to skate most with is _you_ , Reki. If skating with ADAM once more means I won't see you ever again afterwards, then I _don't_ want to join the tournament, because _you_ matter to me more than racing ADAM."

"Langa..."

"I'm sorry," Langa apologized again, with another bow, "for not understanding how much ADAM hurt you, and that I might _never_ be able to understand."

All eyes were on Reki now. Everyone at the top of the stairs waited with bated breath for Reki’s response, which was a hug that made Langa gasp lightly.

Reki whispered into his ear, “I’m sorry too, Langa. I was in a bad mood yesterday and I took it out on you. The tournament...You should participate.”

Langa's eyes widened. "Wha—" He broke the hug, but held on to Reki's waist. "Why?"

Reki also kept holding on to Langa, specifically his shoulders. "Remember," he said hesitantly, "what I said yesterday? That you were nothing like me?"

Langa nodded slowly.

"I still think that," Reki admitted guiltily. Then, he took a deep breath, and spoke more confidently, "You're a way better skater than I am. You can go up against ADAM and escape unscathed, unlike me. So I figured, maybe I should stop worrying about you—" He started to smile "—and start _trusting_ you, instead."

Langa started to smile as well. "Reki...!"

"So, go join the tournament, alright?" Reki thumped his fist on Langa's chest softly. "And I'll be there too, to support you."

"As a spectator?"

Reki glanced aside again. "No. I'm gonna join too."

Langa immediately frowned. "But that means you might have to race—"

"ADAM?" Reki interrupted, smiling wryly. "Yeah, I know, and the last time I raced him, he made me feel like trash." Upon saying that, his gaze fell. "But the thing is—" He reestablished eye contact with Langa, smiling more genuinely now "—I'm _not_ trash. And I'm gonna prove that in the tournament."

Langa's smile returned, and he thumped Reki's chest. "And I'll support you too!"

Reki pulled Langa in for another hug. "God, I love you."

Langa affixed himself to the crook of Reki's neck. "Me too."

Their relationship finally repaired, Reki and Langa ascended the steps together. They bid goodbye to Kaoru and Kojiro before heading off with Hiromi and Miya to the former's car.

"Well, that's a happy end," Kojiro stated pleasantly as he and Kaoru began walking to their motorbikes.

"I suppose so," Kaoru responded neutrally.

"Although, I was pretty shocked to see you get so stoked on helping Langa." Kojiro nonchalantly folded his arms behind his head. "I guess you're still capable of _some_ sentimentality."

Kaoru glared at Kojiro. "I wasn't doing it out of sentimentality. I just wanted to ensure Langa was in the best emotional state to partake in the tournament."

Kojiro side-eyed Kaoru. "Seriously?"

"He has the highest chance of taking down ADAM, and you know it."

"And what about Reki?" Kojiro asked, facing Kaoru properly. "You were really adamant about how much ADAM had traumatized him. Did you plan for him to join the tournament?"

Kaoru opened his fan over the bottom half of his face. "No, but ADAM's obsessed with Langa anyway. The chances of ADAM and Reki competing again are unlikely."

They arrived at their motorbikes. Kaoru swiftly mounted his and left Kojiro in the dust. Kojiro glared at him until he was out of sight, before mumbling, "Let's hope so."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm basing Cherry's attitude and actions based on that scene in episode 5 when he immediately helped Reki when he told him Langa wanted to win against ADAM.
> 
> Also, a scene I couldn't fit in was Reki and Langa signing up for the tournament together and making fun of the website's tacky design.


End file.
